Strike Three
by windlily
Summary: The aftermath of Crossroads of Destiny. [Indefinite Hiatus]
1. Piece of Cake

Author's Note: Hihi. This is my first Avatar fanfic. I've been reading quite a few recently and seeing as I'm me, plots have begun to form uncontrollably within my brain. I can't stop it. So I'm going to write it.

There will be no update schedule or anything of the sort. To be honest, this is made more to get this stuff out of my head than for others to read it. But it would be greatly appreciated if I got reviews anyway. I live to please. No matter how much I hate that sort of life.

Also, as a bit of a side-note, I'm a major Zuko fan, so I'll probably focus on him and his new conscience a bit more than is healthy for me. I will also not be one of those people who throws Zuko in jail or has him try to kill his father in the first two chapters. I have something else planned for the poor, angsty, little firebender.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. If I did, Zuko would never have betrayed Iroh. And you would see a whole lot more of Ty Lee.

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"Oh, Zuzu. I know it must just be your absolute favorite thing to do, but could you please stop moping like that. You're starting to remind me of Mai…"

The Fire Nation princess was feeling quite a bit agitated despite her recent victory in the take-over of Ba Sing Se. It was getting more and more annoying by the day to have to sit around and keep an eye on her older brother. She knew well enough that if she didn't keep her hold on him, there was the possibility he might slip away from her reach for good, but did he have to be so … so … _himself?_ It was nauseating to watch him.

Here they were, feasting from the finest the great Earth stronghold had to offer, and all he did was sit there and stare off into space with that melancholy look of his. Maybe if she could convince Ty Lee to watch him instead, she'd finally be able to take a break from this nonsense and begin to use this new power she had gained….

"I'm sorry. Excuse me," Zuko replied softly, pulling the Fire Nation princess back to the present as he lifted himself from the chair with what seemed like unfathomable effort. Azula frowned.

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" she snapped.

The young prince paused in his footsteps. "About who?"

"Our dear, sweet Uncle, of course. Who else?" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Zuko turned back around to face his sibling, eyebrows furrowed inward toward his now dulled golden orbs. "And if I was, what would it mean to you?"

"It would mean that he's poisoned your mind far worse than I had thought when I saw you earlier, betraying him without even a second thought. Zuko, you've changed. You no longer have that flame burning inside you that I so used to admire. I saw it reappear beautifully that night as you battled, but ever since that moment it has been dwindling down to a mere flicker."

The raven haired boy winced, though held it back enough so that it wasn't noticeable to his sister. He didn't like talking about this. He was not willing to face this yet. He was still unsure of what he was even doing here, why he had made the decision he had. Why? Why had he been so stupid as to actually betray the trust of the one person in all the nations who seemed to put faith in him?!

"Zuko!" The boy jumped at his sister's still echoing holler, eyes now wide and staring into her own, his earlier thoughts trailing off into nothingness. Now that she had his attention, she quieted down, spoke softer, more soothing. "You're doubting yourself, my brother. That is what is weakening you. But do not even think that I would turn against you for it. Zuzu … I can help you regain everything you've lost, if you'll just let me. Just trust me, brother, and I can help erase your doubt." The manipulative princess slowly raised her hand toward her brother, calling for him to take it.

Zuko was quiet for a long time, unmoving. Azula was not a person he could place his faith in. She was anything and everything but. And yet he felt that there was truth in what she said. She obviously did not have to deal with the overwhelming surge of emotions he was drowning in daily. She did not feel guilt; she could probably show him how to do the same. And that was all he wanted right now. To forget. Everything. The hatred. The confusion. The guilt. He just wanted it all to disappear. He wanted everything to return to how it was before this whole mess ever started. That was all he wanted. Yet it still sounded so … wrong.

And even as he reached out his own hand and grasped his younger sister's firmly, resolutely, he couldn't help but feel that he was making the second worst mistake of his life.

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"This makes four days since we left Ba Sing Se. And we still haven't found anywhere to stay…" mumbled a rather tired Katara, more to herself than to anyone else. But seeing as they were all crowded atop a single flying bison, everyone heard her.

"'Left'? You say it like we had a choice," replied Toph, quite a bit disgruntled.

The Earth King, who prior to the beginning of this conversation had been fiddling with his pet bear's paws and making disapproving "tsk" noises at them, looked over at the two young girls, a large frown planted upon his lips.

Before he could say anything, Katara hastily shot back, "That's not the point. If we're going to do anything, we're going to need a place where we can stock up on supplies and rest! And get help!"

"What did you expect, _Sweetness_? Did you think anyone would welcome us in with arms open wide after what happened to Ba Sing Se?! Well, think again!"

The two girls were glaring haughtily at each other, something that Toph seemed surprisingly good at despite her blindness. Sokka sighed. "Girls…" he mumbled, shaking his head.

Aang finally turned around from his place on Appa's head. Looking down on the others like that … it almost made him want to cry. They were trying so hard not to show how they really felt: angry, sad, upset, hopeless. He felt the same way. And more. After a deep breath he managed to interject before the girls could start bickering again.

"You're both right. We can't expect to be welcomed anywhere now, but we still need to find help and supplies. It's obvious now that we can't do this on our own. But I … I don't know what to do…" The pained expression on the boy's face alone was enough to make Katara swallow her pride and her frustration. Toph mumbled something inaudible before settling down as well.

"Well, now that we've got that settled, I _do_ know what to do," Sokka declared. The others were all ears now. Even the Earth King began inching closer to the young water tribe warrior with interest, leaving his Bosco to lick its own paws.

"Why didn't you say so before?!" Katara burst as she jumped to her feet. Toph grimaced as she felt the sudden vibrations the water bender had so excitedly made. How could she do that this high up in the sky…?

"Because I just thought of it, okay!" He shot back indignantly. "Look, no villages or cities are going to trust outsiders, but if we can find some sort of resistance faction like the one in Omashu, I'm sure they'd gladly accept the avatar."

"Do you really think there's still people like that out there?" Aang questioned. Were there really still people with the will to fight on?

Sokka nodded impatiently. "Of course! There's bound to be even more groups like that now that Ba Sing Se has been captured! If we just look in the right places, finding one should be a piece of cake."

"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice then, do we?" Katara sighed as she plopped back down into a sitting position.

"I guess not," Toph agreed simply.

A silence proceeded for about a whole of thirty seconds before the Earth King piped up, "Will they have anything for Bosco to eat?"

"Let's land," Sokka huffed, ignoring the former royalty with all his might. Aang nodded, and Appa began his descent.

----------

Appa was lounging lazily to the right of the freshly set camp. Bosco was sleeping snuggled deep within the bison's fur. Momo was perched contentedly atop Aang's head.

Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and the Earth King were all standing in a circle, arms raised high in the air as a large group of earth benders surrounded them menacingly.

"See? What did I tell you guys? Piece of cake." And Katara's fist slammed down hard on her older brother's head.


	2. Family

Disclaimer: windy does not own Avatar. If she did, Aang would so have an afro.

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"Who are you? What is your business here?"

An armor-clad man stepped up from behind the circling earth benders, dark brown eyes narrowed with suspicion. The black-brown hair that wildly framed his angular face only seemed to make him look that much more dangerous. Well, that and the gleaming iron spikes that were sticking out of his right shoulder pad.

"This is Aang. He's the avatar. We're just looking for-"

"Where's your proof?" the man interrupted Katara, unphased.

Toph elbowed the bald boy forward. "Well, move it, Twinkle Toes. Show 'em what you can do so we can get on with this already."

The young air bender sighed before wordlessly molding the air around his finger tips into a swirling vortex of wind. The nearest earth benders watched in awe, but Katara frowned. There had been a time when Aang would have laughed and joked as he happily showed off his skills, even in a situation like this. But now he only did it because he had to. Azula's attack had scarred him much deeper than a cask of Spirit Oasis water could cure.

The armored man grinned, a wide and welcoming one. "Stand down, men. We've got ourselves some very special guests tonight," he ordered his men, and they were more than willing to comply.

"Follow us, Avatar and friends. We'd be glad to help in any way we can."

Aang smiled up at his companions before following, but it was a rather forced smile as Katara quickly understood. Even Toph seemed to be slightly put off by this, though she couldn't see.

And for just a moment, Katara found herself wondering what sort of self-destructive chaos could be ensuing inside Aang's cracking heart that it could even be seen by the blind.

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Zuko walked slowly down a decorated stone hallway, overwhelmingly tall green and gold and brown tapestries surrounding him on either side. He had finally gained a rare moment to himself: no sister, no Ty Lee or Mai, no guards. But he felt no different. He felt no less watched or judged. Unwillingly, he remembered back to when he had looked that water bender in the eye and spoke so surely, "I have changed."

The Fire Nation prince slammed his fist into the stone wall. Oh, yes. He had changed all right. He was stupider than ever. Azula's promises were all so empty, so meaningless. He knew that. From the very beginning, he had known. And yet he still held on to hope. If Azula wasn't at least being a little truthful, why had she not thrown him in a cell like Uncle? And even if she was lying, surely his father would see things a little differently.

It was all just so … stupid. He was doing the same things he had always done. He had helped the Fire Nation conquer yet another city for its expanding empire. He had aided in the capture of a wanted traitor. But now he had a conscience. Now he felt guilty about it all. It was never ending. He wanted to curse his uncle for it, wanted to blame him for trying to change him. But he couldn't. Because he knew with all this body and mind that he had only himself to blame.

_No._

Don't think about that, he told himself hastily. Think about what you'll gain for all of it. Zuko removed his fist from the crumbling indent he had made in the stone, staring at his bruised knuckles without really seeing them.

He would go home. In just two days' time, Azula would accompany him back home. He would see his father again: the man he had, for three years now, been trying so desperately to appease. He would return to his rightful place in the Fire Nation. He admitted to himself that he would probably never be made Fire Lord. Azula had always tried to make that clear to him, but he was only now able to really understand as he watched the way she secretly controlled her newfound plaything, visibly pushing the older prince off to the sidelines. She had always acted this way, but only now was Zuko so passionless as to notice the truth of it all.

But after his time in the Earth Kingdom, just returning home was still enough to lead him to such moral ruin. All he wanted now was to return to the Fire Nation, return to the palace, return to his father. He wanted his family back. _Family_. Zuko couldn't help but be slightly put off at the direction his thoughts were taking him. Had that really been what he had gone to such extreme lengths for? Had that really been what he had destroyed so many other lives and families for?

_Yes_, came that dangerous voice from within his own ears. He had wanted his family back. So badly. So overwhelmingly badly that he had betrayed his uncle at the mere mention of redemption. He had known even then, even as he lashed out with blazing fire whips at the water bender who had been kind enough to offer her precious resources to an idiot like himself, that Azula was likely to have something very different in store for him, but the thought that there was even the slightest chance, the remotest probability that he would be able to return to the way things had once been had led him to do something he knew he would never forgive himself for.

He had sacrificed his uncle for his own selfish delusions of regaining his family.

And then, like a ton of molten bricks collapsing on top of his already throbbing head, the reality of what he had just thought hit him. Uncle was his family too. The only member of it that had stuck by him through all of his anger, confusion, and most of all, pain. When he had pictured himself reentering the Fire Nation, he had seen Iroh standing beside him. When he had pictured himself walking stoically down the hallway, he had seen Iroh laughing lightly about the various kinds of Fire Nation teas he had missed. When he had pictured his father embracing him, he had seen Iroh standing to the side and encouraging him, just as he always had.

This wasn't what he really wanted. This wasn't what he wanted at all! He had known he was as good as sending his uncle to his death. And he had felt horrifically guilty about it. But those feelings of guilt and depression had been nothing like what he felt right then and there: the utter and complete desperation suddenly consuming him, eating him away from the inside out. He had to stop this! He had to stop it right now! If this kept up, he would lose Uncle too! He'd never be able to see Uncle again either! And it would be all his fault! All his fault … again.

The raven haired boy clenched his pale, bruised hand once again into a tight, painful fist as his head slowly lifted from its lowered position. He hadn't realized until that moment that while he had fought within himself he had collapsed on his side against one of the overbearing tapestries. He took a deep breath, let it go, and then pulled himself from the wall with a new, indescribable vigor before marching off in the direction of Ba Sing Se's dungeons.


	3. Sick Cycle Carousel

Author's Note: Merry belated Christmas, all! And Happy Holidays all around! I wanted to get this chapter out on Christmas Eve, as a present to all you Zuko angst lovers out there, but I didn't get the chance. So here I am, on a week long trip to Arizona, bringing you this lovely development. This is an all Zuko chapter. The Avatar and his problems will come in due time, but all of this needs to be taken care of ahead of time so as to match things up chronologically. 

This chapter is named after Lifehouse's song, "Sick Cycle Carousel" because the song fits disturbingly well with everything that happens. You should definitely listen to it. -wink wink nudge nudge-

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. If I did, I would drop out of highschool and actually do something worth while.

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_If shame had a face I think it would kind of look like mine._

_If it had a home, would it be my eyes?_

_Would you believe me if I said I'm tired of this?_

_Now here we go; now one more time._

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Zuko already felt his sudden passion and desperation slipping away from him and being replaced by another far less motivating emotion: anxiety.

There was no way he would find the voice to say anything to Uncle. After all he had done, there was just no way. What could he possibly say after all? "I'm sorry, and I promise I'll never do it again" just didn't seem to cut it. And it wasn't as if he could expect forgiveness anyway. He had betrayed his uncle and may have indirectly destroyed the avatar. He may not care very much about the avatar's fate, but Uncle had always seen him as just as much a potential tea buddy as an enemy. If he had ever seen the avatar as an enemy at all, which Zuko highly doubted. No. Forgiveness was not an option he had any right to hope for.

He would just look, the Fire Nation prince decided as his feet continued to drag the rest of him unwillingly closer and closer to his destination. He wouldn't say a word. He would just look. His uncle's reaction would tell him everything he needed to know.

Now all that was left was to figure out a way to deal with the Dai Li guards Azula had so courteously placed in the prisons, both to keep Iroh in and to keep Zuko out. He didn't have the opportunity to plan out a strategy though, because he found his thoughts interrupted when an extra crispy Dai Li flew across the perpendicular hall and landed in a cringing heap to the boy's left. Zuko's eyes widened with realization as he hurtled forward and rounded the corner just in time to see his uncle dispatch one last guard. That made a total of ten twitching, moaning, and smoldering heaps spread out across the cold, hard floor.

Iroh turned to face his nephew with a smile, dusting ashes from his palms. "Some people never learn, do they?" he chuckled absently, turning back to the fallen guards and the cell's wide open door, melted hinges showcased masterfully.

Zuko supposed that on the surface, Uncle was merely referring to how the Fire Nation continued to underestimate his reputation. And he almost smiled, just like he had before. Almost. He didn't. All he could do was stare blankly at the old man before him. Right now was not before. It never would be ever again. And Zuko was the one Iroh was really talking about. Zuko never learns. Azula always lies. Zuko never learns.

The Fire Nation prince wanted so badly to just say something, anything. He only needed to move his lips and the words would come. It was all he had to do. He knew. But any voice Zuko might have had dissipated instantly as he watched his uncle crouch into a solid fighting stance. Cold sweat blanched his forehead as his own body slowly, shakily did the same. His body was moving on instinct. His mind could not register a single intelligible thought. It was frozen, nothing but a broken record repeating over and over, "Not again. Not again. _Please, not again!"_

"Zuko," he just barely heard above the din of his frantic mental chant, "before we do this, I have something I need to say…"

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_I tried to climb your steps. I tried to chase you down._

_I tried to see how low I could get down to the ground._

_I tried to earn my way. I tried to change this mind._

_You better believe I tried to beat this._

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Azula sat comfortably on the former Earth King's extravagant throne, chin settled deeply within her palm. She had revealed her takeover of the city a day prior, which was met with quite an uproar. Quite an easily suppressed uproar, she grinned maliciously.

The city that had withstood a hundred day seige led by the great Dragon of the West had fallen to a fourteen year old girl in less than a week Everything was moving ahead so smoothly and falling into place so perfectly that the princess had to wonder whether some sort of higher power was simply handing the city to her on a silver platter according to divine will. Her grin only widened.

Now she just had to wait for the escort fleet that would usher in a tide of Fire Nation soldiers into the city. A sentiment of her generous intentions. "This city is mine, and I fully intend to keep it that way."

Once the fleet arrived, she would give them their orders, choose a "yes man" lackey to be the figure head until a proper noble could take his place, and then use those same ships to take Zuko and Iroh back home.

_Zuko._

The Fire Nation princess frowned at the thought of her older brother, who had changed so little and yet so much at the same time. The one speck of dirt that soiled her divine perfection. She had him locked well within her vicelike grip, but that was only for the moment. Azula still wasn't positive exactly how far she'd be able to push him before he turned on her once again. She would easily be able to deal with such a meager problem as that, but she felt that she would gain no satisfaction from this escapade unless she was able to use him first. Their father had chosen to simply get rid of him, and she knew well enough that even if Ozai welcomed Zuko back it would a cold, unfeeling welcome. Azula, though, she saw much more value in that clueless, obsessive brother of hers than her father could ever possibly harness. The only problem was Iroh.

If Iroh's life was imminently threatened, Zuko might turn on her through sheer impulse; he was that sort of person after all. Yet if she kept the old man alive, she kept alive Zuko's way out of her grasp. She needed a way to remove Iroh from the picture without riling little Zuzu… She needed to break Zuko so thoroughly that he wouldn't care what happened to the old man. Or anyone else.

But how…?

"Azula! Azula! Something terrible's happening!"

The contemplating (or scheming, take your pick) princess was rudely shaken out of her reveries as an overly-excited Ty Lee bounced head over heels, then head under heels, into the room. She was followed by an emotionally aloof Mai, shuffling hastily to keep up with her exhuberant companion. Well, nothing new there.

"Ty Lee, how many times must I tell you before you finally comply? I am royalty. While I sit upon this throne I am _Princess_ Azula," the fourteen year old snapped.

"Sorry, Princess Azula!" the acrobat quickly countered. "I'm just so excited, you know! It's absolutely terrible!"

Mai shook her head and sighed before clearing things up for the now thoroughly irritated princess. "Iroh's escaped his cell."

The Fire Nation princess bolted upright and charged down the hall toward her two allies. "What about the guard I ordered?!" she huffed as she peeled past them. The two girls turned around and took up places on either side of her, walking as fast they possibly could without actually running.

"All ten are down," came Mai's simple reply.

"I ordered twice that!" And then suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. "Where's Zuko?!"

Mai faltered for the first time, but Ty Lee answered without hesitation. "Last I saw, he was moping around the Councilors' Chambers."

Azula cursed before she began running. That was far too close to the prisons. She had to hurry or else all could be ruined.

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_When will this end? It goes on and on_

_Over and over and over again._

_Keep spinning around. I know it won't stop_

_'Til I step down from this for good._

----------

Azula quickly did her best to calculate what it was that she was actually seeing and what it was that could possibly have taken place to lead to such a conclusion.

Iroh's cell was open, hinges burnt and facing outward while the heavy lock still held the other side of the door to the wall. Ten guards were leaning up against walls, groaning as they just began recovering consiousness. Unfortunate for them, seeing as most of their wounds were second degree burns. A few painful blisters could already be seen bubbling up from various exposed body parts, but Azula wasn't particularly interested in any of that. A bunch of idiots who couldn't stop an old man from excaping an inescapable prison cell didn't deserve an ounce of her pity, let alone her recognition.

She was much more interested in the far end of the hallway, where the stone walls hit a dead end. Nearly every inch of these back walls was covered in soot and ash, and every torchlight that had lit the passageway was laying smoking on the floor. A gaping hole opened up from the floor where it appeared that the stone had been completely melted clear down into the fowl smelling sewage system below.

And inbetween the tunnel and the scorched wall, sat none other than Zuko, back against the wall, breathing hard and staring down into the refuse filled waters below in shock.

Azula frowned, stepping forward. "Where's Uncle?" She hadn't insulted the old man in any way whatsoever in adressing his name. She meant business. Zuko didn't respond for a long time. The princess tried yet again, attempting to sound much more patient than she really was. "Where is-"

"He's ... gone," the boy barely managed, the fact that he had interrupted his sister revealing just how far gone he was. "He's ... really ... gone. Gone." His voice was nothing more than a whisper, but it held an indescribable edge to it. Azula attributed it to the shock that was so obvious in his wide, unblinking golden eyes. She watched as Zuko's hand, formerly limp at his side, suddenly shot up to his shoulder as he cringed, eyes finally shutting tight. His own voice had broken the spell, and he was now fully aware of the large, blistering burn residing along his left shoulder and halfway down his arm.

Azula was speechless. For just a moment, she didn't know what to think. But the moment was short lived. Zuko had fought their uncle. Zuko, of all people, had fought their uncle. And had been beaten. _Badly._

Without a word, the Fire Nation princess breezed past the medical team, past Mai and Ty Lee, and past the gaping hole until she was standing directly in front of Zuko. The raven haired boy was looking away from her. Shock, his last protection, had left him, and he could no longer hold back the tears. He couldn't let himself cry in front of Azula. He couldn't. And yet there she was, not a foot from him, staring down at him with those piercing, hawk-like eyes. "Zuko..." He couldn't look. He couldn't look. He couldn't give her the pleasure of seeing his tears.

Azula kneeled down to match Zuko's height and caressed his cheek lightly. Then, she embraced him, pulling his face to her chest as she held him gently. Zuko couldn't hold back any longer. He couldn't dam the flood that was pushing out from his tear ducts. He couldn't pretend any longer. He had lost his last glimmer of hope. He had lost everything.

Zuko cried. He cried as he hadn't since he had seen his father standing before him, readying the flames that would seal his fate. He grasped his sister as she continued to embrace him, his entire body convulsing with heartwrenching sobs. Tears streamed unebbed from his undamaged eye as he pulled in closer to Azula's warm breast. It didn't matter anymore. It didn't matter what Azula thought. It didn't matter what anyone thought. It just didn't matter.

Ty Lee giggled as she and Mai stayed behind to watch the scene unfold, elbowing her friend playfully and mumbling something about "competition." Mai wasn't listening though. She was locked on the two siblings, a frown growing upon her glossy lips.

Azula was smiling.

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_I never thought I'd end up here._

_I never thought I'd be standing where I am._

_I kind of thought it would be easier than this._

_I guess I was wrong; now one more time._

_This is a sick cycle carousel._

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Author's note: Well, I hope that had the desired effect. This chapter is a bit longer than the other two, partly because I'm obsessed with Zuko, partly because of the song lyrics. Oh well. Reviews would be wonderful.


	4. Dawn to Dusk

Author's Note: I just realized that I have Fire Nation ships coming into Ba Sing Se. But I have absolutely no idea where they would come from. Does Lake Laogai connect to a river or anything of the sort? Anyway, in order to cover up my stupidity, I'm just going to say there's a river that connects Ba Sing Se to another already captured Earth Kingdom stronghold. I'm sorry about that. I've always been bad at geography. And dealing with a fictional world to which I have yet to find a map can be a bit troubling. 

Or I'm just stupid and lazy. Take your pick. I'm happy as long as you're reading and reviewing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. This stuff is way better than anything I could come up with.

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Aang lay perfectly still, staring up at the earth above him. He could hear the breathing of his companions beside him in the damp, earthen cave, but he couldn't see them. It was dim enough when the sun just barely peeked through the entrance, but with the sun settled contentedly elsewhere, the cold darkness of night surrounded them on all sides. The boy tried to turn on his side, but winced at the immediate pain that shot through his spinal chord.

Oh, that was right. He was still wounded, wasn't he? It hadn't hurt him unbearably when he laid on Appa's furry coat, but he was lying on a single blanket tonight, not much protection from the hard rockface. Even when it had hurt, he hadn't let it show, trying his hardest to appear perfectly fine for his friends. For Katara. Every single day she did her best with the little water she had to further heal the large burn sealed into his back, but it wasn't of much use. He was alive, of course. But he knew well enough that the mark would never leave him. He didn't particularly want it to.

He was afraid that if the pain left him, so would his shame.

He had let go of Katara in order to save her, had almost mastered the Avatar State, had done everything in his power to do the right thing ... only to fail miserably and totally. If it wasn't for Katara, he'd be dead. And so would the Avatar. Forever.

Why hadn't he been able to let go of his attachment to Katara before it was too late? Had he ever really let go? Or had he just been fooling himself?

He was the Avatar, for goodness sake! He was supposed to be able to save the world! But how could he possibly do that if he couldn't even save Katara? And why did the thought of not saving Katara hurt worse than the thought of nearly losing the Avatar State? Iroh had told him that love was a better choice than power. And it had made him feel better, if only a little. Yet how could he love someone if he wasn't powerful enough to protect her?

"Aang? Are you still awake?" The boy shot up into a sitting position when he heard Katara's drowsy mumble.

"Ah! No, I just woke up! I've just gotta ... go ... take a wiz!" he quipped hastily in reply and, before Katara could say anything more, maneauvured the air about him so that he could float above his sleeping companions and toward the entrance. Two men of the resistance were acting as a sort of guard at the dead end Aang abruptly found himself in front of. The boy pointed sheepishly to the large rock that was placed conveniently between the two and then to his own stomach. The men nodded, one smiled, before they each took on identical stances and, with practiced force and expertise, they bended the enormous hunk of earth forward and to the right. Aang soared through the gap, bouncing lightly on air until he was finally out of sight.

With a little care the boy threw all caution to the wind and utilized his unique ability in order to land on a rocky plateau, far above the cover of the trees. The sun was just barely peaking out from the horizon so that there was a pink-gold line across the surface of the world but the sky was still black, dotted by its many minute stars. It looked a little like Ba Sing Se had at night, warm lights aglow all around, dancing with a genial, happy, yet dignified air. The sights, the sounds, the peace. Ba Sing Se had been a place of peace.

But Ba Sing Se had fallen.

And as the sun slowly rose, inch by inch, above the horizon Aang couldn't help but see something very different in that vast, endless sky. The sun consumed the stars, the darkness, even the moon with its fierce and powerful light. It was unrelenting, unforgiving, and unyielding. And as the sun continued to take up its position high above, the twelve year old air bender locked his eyes purposefully onto the last star only to see it too fall into the final depths of the light's clutches as the terrible force smugly swallowed the very last corner of the sky. The star had tried and failed to escape the oncoming light sent to obscure its miniscule attempts to go on living peacefully. To go on living. But it was not gone. The star was not gone. It was just hidden, waiting for its chance to come once again. It had made mistakes, it had had its problems, and those things would never really go away. But it kept on struggling, kept on shining, even if the sun blocked out its light. It kept on going because it knew that, despite all of its faults and failures, it would be happy again some day. It couldn't give up before then. It just couldn't.

Aang stared silently up at the now bright and sunny sky for a moment longer before bursting out laughing. And crying. He couldn't stop for a while, but eventually he was able to catch himself just enough to realize how long he had been gone. Determined to calm himself down completely, he rubbed at his uncontrollable tears as he let out one last childish giggle. He had to get back before Katara began to worry about him.

"Feeling better?"

Aang whirled around to see none other than the water bender herself standing behind him, a warm, genuine smile housed upon her lips. He was about to ask how she had gotten up here, but he couldn't get the words out. And he didn't really care. He just continued to rub his still moist eyes and smiled back.

"Yeah," he sighed softly as he walked over to her. Then, slightly more confindent, "Yeah, I think so."

----------

After what seemed like an eternity, Azula finally felt she was where she belonged, giving loud and demanding orders to the Fire Nation soldiers that had arrived early that morning. The Dai Li were certainly very obediant pawns, but there was just something wonderful about commanding a troop of Fire Nation soldiers. Currently, they were reloading one of the large, metal freighters with supplies and "gifts" from the Earth Kingdom. Which, to Azula, meant supplies and trash to be used for target practice. As her soldiers' tasks were nearing their completion, she stepped back to lean smuggly against a wall that provided much appreciated shade. Mai was sitting on a barrel beside her, looking down at her shoes with little to no interest.

The Fire Nation princess looked her ally over for a moment before letting out a "hmph" and pulling her arms up across her chest. "Honestly. I would have expected Zuzu to show at least some interest in all of this. I am doing it all for him, after all." Mai noted the mocking, sardonic tone Azula's voice held but did not acknowledge it. "Where is angsty, little Zuzu anyway? It's starting to get dark." She had developed the habit of referring to Zuko as 'little' when he was not around to hear her. And, despite her being younger by two years, she felt it was quite appropriate.

"He wandered off into the city a while ago. Said he'd be back before we leave tomorrow. I didn't see a problem with it," Mai replied dully.

"Well, he's going to have to relearn a few things before we return home. Royalty does _not_ fraternize with the peasantry."

----------

A pale though sturdy hand let itself slide slowly across the inner walls of a recently boarded up tea shop, The Jasmine Dragon. The owner of the hand sighed as he turned around to see the empty entry way, the empty tables and cushions, the empty kitchen. The abandoned shop was dark and eerie, not a sound to be heard but his own restricted breathing.

And Zuko knew it was all his fault.

The newly redeemed Fire Nation prince felt nothing of the sort as, after one final sweep of the building, he left the shop for what he knew to be the last time. He took up a solemn but determined position in the middle of the road out front, looking up at the shop with a frown, determined not to cry again. Especially now. This shop represented his last tie to his former life in the Earth Kingdom. It was a life he could never return to.

"You reep what you sow," he whispered coldly under his breath as he unceremoniously conjured a flame in his hand and chucked it at the tea shop.

It was already fairly dark out, and Zuko had assumed that no one would be foolhardy enough to break the curfew after what Azula had done to supress the resistance when she had revealed her take over of the Earth Kingdom capital. Needless to say he was stunned motionless as he felt two arms curl around him from behind.

"Complicated, huh?" asked a voice. A voice that Zuko knew very well, but that he had expected never to hear again.

"Jin," he barely managed as he tried to turn around, only to have her forehead land hard against his back. Once again, he froze.

"Li, please just tell me one thing. Was it real?" she asked him softly, earnestly, nestling her head deeper into the smalls of his back.

"No, my name isn't even L-" he responded just a little too quickly.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it! Li,_ tell me_. Was it real?"

Jin was right. He knew exactly what she meant, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. He didn't want to answer because it was just too sad.

It was a different sadness than Zuko was used to experiencing though. It was a calm, clear sadness. Like moonlight reflected on the still surface of a lake. The boy tried to make sense of it and could come up with only one way of wording it. Ever since his fated Agni Kai, even before then, almost everything that went wrong was his fault. He wasn't good enough. He made mistakes. His sadness was always tinged with guilt and shame. That was why he had pursued the avatar so relentlessly. He had made another mistake, but this time he had had the chance to make it right. It hadn't mattered what happened to anyone else as long as his honor was restored and his shame lifted. But this sadness was not tainted by anything. It did not fill him with a desire to redeem himself.

He didn't feel guilty at what he was about to say. He didn't feel shame. He didn't feel dishonored. He only felt ... sad.

And for some inexplainable reason, this thought gave Zuko the courage to say it.

"No," he whispered. And that was it.

Jin held tighter, and he could feel her crying softly into his shirt, jerking lightly with heartbroken spasms. Zuko wasn't exactly sure how long they stood that way, watching the Jasmine Dragon burning down into nothing, but it was long enough for the sun to completely set and for the tea shop to simmer down into cinders.

And all Zuko could really think about was how this had been the first time he had had to put so much effort into a single lie.


	5. No Resistance

Disclaimer: windy doesn't own Avatar. If she did, she probably wouldn't talk in third person.

----------

"BOO!"

Aang's eyes shot open to see a pale green pair not inches from his own. He almost screamed, but the eyes cut him off as soon as he had opened his mouth.

"Finally!"

"Toph!" the airbender breathed instead when he recognized the eyes and voice as the blind earthbender's. "What did you do that f-"

"To wake you up! Duh!" Toph replied loudly, searing Aang's still not-quite-ready ear drums. She roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him up, impatience eminating from her every movement. "Now, come on!"

The boy followed her, not exactly fully awake, dragged through tunnel after tunnel until they made it to a large alcove which was currently occupied by the rest of his friends, the dethroned Earth King, and a select few Earth Kingdom rebels, including the man with the spiky armor on his shoulder. Who, Aang had learned the other day, was named Xin Ling. Momo was perched on the Earth King's shoulder, but Appa and Bosco had to stay outside of the makeshift base because of their respective sizes and habits.

"Twinkle Toes is awake. We can start now, right?" the earthbender huffed as she let go of his arm. He rubbed the slightly reddening skin she had gripped and smiled sheepishly as the others watched, Katara eyeing Toph accusingly.

When Katara and he had returned from the plateau the day before, they had been met by more than a few chastizing faces. Aang hadn't given them much thought though. For the first time in days, he had felt the need to do something. He had to fulfill his purpose. He was no less weary, no less injured, and certainly no less distraught. But his gray eyes had been alight with a new determination, or perhaps an old one newly returning. Unfortunately, he hadn't been the only one who had acknowledged his injury, and despite his many protests, he had not been allowed to do anything but rest as the others had held council. Today would be very different, as Toph had so generously informed him in her usual, subtle way. _Why was she so impatient anyway?_

"Are you feeling up to the task today, Avatar?" asked Xin Ling sincerely, if not a little roughly.

"I was feeling up to task yesterday," the boy muttered his reply. The middle-aged earthbender smiled.

"What's past is past," Sokka intervened before the conversation could continue. "What we need to do now is decide what we need to do first."

"Aang needs a firebending teacher," Katara cut in.

"We still have many wounded and dying here. I'm sure they would greatly appreciate the young waterbender's healing abilities," Xin Ling added.

Aang watched as Toph tapped her foot irritably. "Um ... To-?"

"What about Iroh?! Are we just going to leave him there? If what Katara said is true, he risked his life to save you! We have to do the same for him! It's the obvious first choice!"

_Oh. That was why._ Aang vaguely wondered whether they had already been through this argument without him.

"You're not the only one with people to worry about," Sokka shot back menacingly. And the bald boy's eyes widened with realization, all lingering drowsiness vanishing instantaneously. _The Kyoshi warriors! Suki!_

"You agree with me, don't you, Aang!?" Aang quickly snapped back to the present. It was Toph. Toph was expecting him to support her. She was expecting him to choose to help Iroh over everything else. "And like Katara said, Aang needs a firebending teacher, right?" No insulting nicknames. No Sweetness or Sugarqueen. No Twinkle Toes. Aang didn't know how to respond. The last time he had gone up against Azula and Zuko, he had almost died. He hadn't been able to protect Katara, to protect anyone. He never wanted that to happen again. He didn't want to leave Iroh there. Of course not! But...

"If you're thinking about returning to Ba Sing Se, I strongly suggest you stop. _Now_." The intense tone of voice the resistance leader had suddenly taken had everyone listening.

"And why not?" the Earth King spoke up for the first time, a small pout evident upon his lips. Xin Ling's wary expression did not waver. And quite a few of the others took on grim countenances as well, as if remembering something that should not be remembered.

"I never imagined..." the middle-aged man suddenly seemed quite a bit older as he continued, "that the Fire Lord's kin would go so far as to kill so many innocents merely to show off."

----------

Three Days Prior

Zuko stood to the right and as far back as he possibly could on the large balcony his sister and he found themselves on today. He knew exactly what was going to happen. He did not want to see it, did not want any part in it. But he was Fire Nation. He was prince of the Fire Nation! It was his duty to be there to stop any rebellion that may come. That was all Azula was planning to do, after all. Stop a rebellion. But despite his best efforts to convince himself, he still couldn't stand the thought of what he was about to witness. Yet he also couldn't stand the thought of doing anything against it. This was his last chance. If he could hold himself steady for just a few more days, he'd gain back everything. Everything he wanted.

"People of Ba Sing Se!" Azula's voice rang loud and clear as the hoards of people below, from every ring, gasped and whispered to each other in confusion. "Your time of sweet ignorance has come to its end. There is most certainly a war waging outside of your proud city's walls, and it now resides within as well. Your king has abandoned you! And I have come to take his place in the name of Fire Lord Ozai. I hereby declare Ba Sing Se under the rule of the Fire Nation!"

Gasps and whispers quickly became shouts, screams, utter disbelief. How could this possibly be happening? What war? Where was the Earth King? Finally, a familiar face came into view. People pointed, cried for him to say something, assure them that this little girl was a liar. Long Feng grinned.

Azula watched uncaring as the man walked up onto the balcony followed by five stony faced Dai Li. "Hello, little princess," he spoke coldly. She raised an eyebrow.

"I believe I ordered you and your men to clean up the mess in the kitchens," the teenaged princess replied calmly.

"My men and I are no longer taking orders from you. In fact, we never were," Long Feng smirked as he turned to face the multitudes below. "Ba Sing Se! Your king may have left you, but my loyalty is unconditional! I will strike our foe down, but I cannot do it alone! Stand with me! A few measely guards cannot stand up against an entire city! We have pushed them back before; let us do it again now!" The city immediately erupted. Men and women from every ring began to rally others. They ran forward, barging toward Dai Li and simple soldiers alike. Women and men stood back, protecting children, running away, while others broke through the ranks, screaming their support for their self-proclaimed protector. He was in charge once again. There was nothing Azula could do to him now. She was stuck up here with him while her men would succumb to the city below. She could not possibly be ready for a rebellion so soon. Her precious Fire Nation soldiers hadn't even arrived yet.

Long Feng turned back to Azula with a devilish grin, but all confidence he had held shattered when he saw her expression. It was more smug than even his own. He was not stupid; he could tell what was happening. This had all been a trap. Just as how she had set him up to contact her in the first place, she must have set him up to believe he still had support among the Dai Li. "Thank you, Long Feng," Azula intoned smoothly, "for rooting out all of Ba Sing Se's potential resistance for me. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

The Fire Nation royalty snapped her fingers. That was it. The last five Dai Li Long Feng had believed remained loyal to him sank down into their respective stances and forcefully brought large, earthen pillars soaring from the surface and crashing down again. The soldiers on the ground immediately reacted to the signal. All earthbenders simultaneously bent the surrounding top soil into impenetrable cages for all the rioters. Within twenty minutes, the rebellion was quelled in full and Long Feng was trapped once again by his own men.

Azula paced back and forth in front of him. Long Feng did not want to look at her. Instead, he offered a passing glance to her brother who was watching him with an unreadable expression. The man couldn't decide whether it was an expression of pity, contempt, or understanding. Perhaps it was all three. Long Feng never got the chance to decide.

"Once again, you have become my tool. No," the princess grinned as she looked him up and down, locked hand and foot by his own earthbenders, "you are not a tool. You are a toy. You are my plaything. A child's plaything. But I have grown bored of playing with you, Long Feng. You have only continued to disappoint. Now, you will finally have a chance to shine." Her tone was so full of giddy malice it took everything the man had to keep his poker face straight.

"An example, is it?" he hissed.

"That, and so much more." She snapped her fingers again. The Dai Li bent the pillars so that Long Feng was jerked around to face the captive city. "People of Ba Sing Se! This is what will become of the slightest breath of resistance against the Fire Nation!" Long Feng cringed at the inevitable, but it didn't come. Instead, he watched as every single person who had fought back at his speech was simultaneously silenced, crushed on all sides by their rocky prisons. Shock was propelled in waves across the remaining population. Nobody could believe what was happening. Only moments ago, there had been no war. Now, they were being slaughtered by conquistadors.

Long Feng could believe it though. He knew the Fire Nation. He knew Azula. And he knew what was next. The inevitable was inevitable for a reason, after all. "And now, the finale." Azula's fingers seemed to light with energy as she smirked approvingly. Zuko forced himself to watch, forced himself not to miss a single detail no matter how much he wanted to turn away. "Mercy is for the weak," he whispered grudgingly.

And Long Feng was struck by the grandest bolt of lightning the Fire Nation princess could muster.

There would be no resistance in Ba Sing Se.

----------

Author's Note: Well, I hope that turned out how I wanted. It felt a little rushed to me. Oh well. Reviews help me improve. So long for now.


	6. The Wrong Choices

Author's Note: To answer a few questions from the reviewers that seem to have spawned overnight, I decided I'd set a few things straight. Plus, I'm bored. That always helps.

I would never kill Iroh off. He's such a great character, and Zuko is utterly incomplete without him. It goes against all of my morals to let such a wonderful character die. What actually happened between him and Zuko will be addressed later on. Oooooh, suspense.

Yes, Zuko was lieing to Jin. I wanted some closure for those two. It turned out a bit soap-opera-esque at first, but I figure what with so many people killed off only days ago, everyone's bound to be overly emotional.

The big, dramatic Long Feng death scene actually came to me on a whim. Originally, I was going to have Long Feng take over again after Azula left, causing problems for both the fire princess and Aang later on in the time line. But when this came to mind, I thought it would be more fun even if it would be shorter. I wanted to portray Azula as the twisted, little fourteen year old war hawk she is. Plus, everything that happened will be an issue Zuko faces in a major confrontation I hope to get to much later on. –maniacal laugh-

And that concludes this gigantic, completely unnecessary author's note.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. But I do own Xin Ling's awesome shoulder spikes. _So there._

----------

Silence reigned in the rocky alcove. What could one say after hearing a story like that? Nearly a tenth of Ba Sing Se's population had been mercilessly wiped out because they could have _potentially_ participated in a rebellion against the Fire Nation's rule.

And the people who did it. Azula and Zuko, daughter and son of Fire Lord Ozai.

Aang knew that both could be cruel, but this was far more than he had ever expected or could even imagine. This was the side of war that even the Avatar could not truly fathom. It was the same sort of thing that had happened to his own people. The countless deaths of innocent people, dragged into a conflict they wanted nothing to do with, a conflict they had come to the Earth Kingdom stronghold to avoid. The hundreds of lives, people just like him, Katara, Sokka, Toph, even Iroh, people who just wanted to live their lives their own way, destroyed for no good reason at all! This was the sort of thing he needed to stop. As the Avatar, it was his duty to end this war and this slaughter as soon as possible. Logic told him that there was no time for a detour.

He had wasted one hundred years already. He knew he couldn't waste another minute.

But before he had even heard Xin Ling's story, his mind had already set itself on what he had to do first. Logic had never been something Aang was very skilled at adhering to. His determination, his desperation, had already pinned its own target, and Aang couldn't go against it.

The boy sneaked a guilty glance toward Toph, then sighed. This was something he had to do. _For himself._

"I have to go to Kyoshi Island."

Without missing a single beat, Sokka struck back loudly, "What the heck are you talking about?" He stared the air bender down as if he were insane, and Aang had to wonder whether he really was.

"I have to know if the Kyoshi warriors are okay! That's the only place I can think to look!"

"They're not there, and you know it! Have you already forgotten what the spiky dude over there just said?!" The water tribesman pointed animatedly at Xin Ling as he continued, performing quite a few other interesting hand motions as well. "Who was it that disguised themselves as the Kyoshi Warriors?! The crazy, homicidal, Fire Nation death triplets! That's who! The Kyoshi Warriors would never give up to the Fire Nation! Or anyone else! Let alone just hand over all of their clothes so that the Fire Nation could infiltrate Ba Sing Se! Aang, you know as well as I do that they're prob-"

"Don't say it!" Aang bellowed. Most of the others in the alcove watched anxiously, not exactly wanting to take sides. Toph, on the other hand, was not at all perturbed at speaking her mind.

"For once, I have to agree with the idiot. ("Hey!") We all know that whether Azula intended to kill them or not, they wouldn't give up their stuff. They're either in some dank, dark dungeon _with Iroh_ or they're-"

"_I said don't say it!!" _This time gusts of wind forced themselves out of nowhere and circled around the boy agitatedly. His gray eyes were wide with anger and his brows furrowed dangerously low. Toph went utterly quiet, suddenly very intent to stare at anything on the exact opposite side of the entrance where Aang was currently standing. Katara eyed the earth bender curiously for a moment, knowing full well she was blinder than a bat, but decided to save her interrogation for another day. There were more immediate things that needed to be taken care of right now.

"Aang, we need to…" the water bender began but trailed off hesitantly when the addressed air bender turned his ice cold glare on her.

Sokka coughed loudly and, once again, everyone's attention was placed in him. He faced Aang head on, his own liquid blue gaze hardening dramatically. No one moved; no one spoke. Katara bit her lip in her helplessness. _Would someone please just say something!_

"I'm going. I have to. I just have to."

"They won't be there."

"I need to make sure."

"We'd just be wasting our time."

"Then I'll go alone."

"You're being selfish, stubborn, and stupid."

"Maybe I am."

Finally, Sokka cracked. His furious glare melted as he gripped his forehead, covering his eyes in the process. "Fine, fine! If you're going to be that way, you and Toph can go to Kyoshi Island and check up on everything, while Katara and I stay here and help the resistance. That way we can heal these Ba Sing Se refugees, decide a few strategies, and be selfish, stubborn, and stupid _together_, okay?"

The small smile Sokka offered broke through Aang's solid demeanor, and he found himself smiling as well, though his was not quite as genuine as he would have liked.

"Thanks, Sokka."

"Yeah, yeah. A real guy bonding moment. But before you get too overjoyed, you should probably get permission from them."

Aang could taste the sarcasm flowing from his friends lips but still followed Sokka's pointing finger to two rather unpleasant faces: Katara and Toph. Neither looked particularly angry, but he just couldn't deal with any more guilt right now. _Hadn't that been one of the chakras...?_ The air bender frowned, looking away. "I'm leaving as soon as I get everything packed. You can come if you want, Toph. I … I'm sorry," he muttered before walking out of the make-shift council room.

Katara sighed, kneading her temple in hopes of reducing her oncoming headache. When Aang had been in the Avatar State, she had been able help him. When he had lost hope back at the Serpent's Pass, she had been able to help him. Whenever he was lost or confused, she helped him. But when he was angry like this, there was just nothing she could think to do. Whatever she said, whatever she did, she just received that cold, unweilding stare in return. It hurt her to see Aang that way. It hurt a lot.

Toph was quiet for a moment longer before walking out as well, waving nonchallantly to the Water Tribe siblings as she left.

"That … didn't quite go according to plan," Sokka offered in an attempt at being apologetic toward the others in the room, especially his sister.

"The Avatar is but a boy. If this is what he feels he needs to do, I will not question his judgement. He needs to begin deciding things on his own," Xin Ling replied assuringly as he rose to his feet.

"He's been forced into deciding things on his own ever since he was told he was the Avatar," Katara muttered a bit more spitefully than she had intended, still watching the entrance as if she believed he would come back.

The middle-aged earthbender shrugged knowingly before helping the Earth King to his feet. "Sometimes a man just needs to make all of the wrong choices before he can truly gather himself together and allow himself to focus on the right ones."

"But you just said he was only a boy!" Katara spat back, letting out some of her frustrations on the only people left to let them out on.

"Indeed, I did." Xin Ling escorted the king out of the alcove followed by his men. He didn't even offer a spare glance at the fuming waterbender.

"Agh! He is _so_ frustrating! Why do guys like that always have to talk so cryptically! If you wanna say something, just say it already!"

"I know! This one time…" But Sokka didn't get much further, much to his chagrin. His sister had already walked out the door.

----------

Prince Zuko leaned against the railing of his ship. No, he corrected himself. It was Azula's ship. His ship was… The newly redeemed prince decided not to dwell on that particular memory.

"Ah, Zuzu. I thought I'd find you out here."

Zuko twitched jerkily before turning to face his younger sister. "Don't call me that."

Azula smiled. "You're hair is really growing out, brother. Just a little more and you'll have enough for your top knot again, though it will be rather short for a while," she intoned, ruffling his black tresses for emphasis.

"I guess," Zuko mumbled in reply.

"We'll be home soon. You'll be able to see Father again."

"I guess."

"What's wrong, Zuko? The first time I told you that you were coming home, you were thrilled. But now that you're really on your way, you're the exact opposite. You're sulking, for Agni's sake. If there's anything troubling you, know that you can talk to me about it. We are siblings, after all," Azula went on knowingly, coming up and leaning against the railing directly to Zuko's left.

The raven haired boy continued to stare down at the sea silently for a moment before he took in a deep breath and began, "Azula, I …I want to…"

"Yes?"

"Nevermind," Zuko concluded with a sigh as he let go of the railing and stepped down below deck, heading straight toward his temporary quarters. He slammed the door behind him, just for good measure, not that anybody was there to care.


	7. Warriors

Edit: Thanks for 1234 hits! –jumps for joy-

Author's Note: Sorry, it's been a while since I last updated. School's no fun, and this chapter was kind of hard for me to write. Not to mention long.

Anyway, enjoy the emotional overloady goodness.

----------

Katara wiped another pestering onslaught of sweat from her forehead before allowing herself to lean back against the rocky wall behind her. She inhaled then exhaled, letting the relaxing rhythms of her breaths wash over her gently. Slowly and carefully, she removed her trademark Water Tribe outer shirt, revealing the faded blue undershirt beneath. Both articles of clothing were fairly moist. Whether from sweat or her bending water, she was unsure.

It was time for a break.

The young water bender felt a pang of guilt at the thought of taking a break while she still had quite a few people left to heal, all far worse off than her, but she held her resolve with the simple fact that a fatigued healer is no healer at all. And she wasn't that talented of a healer to begin with. Katara pulled herself to her feet, draping her shirt over her shoulder. It was off to the supply cavern then. A bit of a snack sounded positively heavenly to her weary taste buds.

As Katara maneuvered her way through the maze-like cavern she couldn't help but be reminded of the underground labyrinth they had stumbled hopelessly through on their way to Omashu what now seemed like years ago. Everything had been much calmer then, much less imminent. And Aang and she had been all alone…

No. Aang was the last person she wanted to think about right now. Well, maybe not the _last_ person. That particular spot in her mind was currently reserved for a certain scar-faced, lying-scum fire prince. But she was reluctant to think of the air bender either way. There was obviously something wrong, something that the others didn't know and that Aang wasn't about to tell them.

Katara was fairly sure that Aang had come to terms with his defeat at the hands of Azula, but there was something much deeper within this giant mess. She could feel it. But he wouldn't tell her anything and she couldn't help him, and so she was lost in a constant haze of doubt, confusion, and worry. And if she was this off-balance, how much more so was Aang?

Hastily, she shook her head, braid flaying out behind her. She reminded herself of the fact that she had not wanted to think about Aang in the first place, gathered a deep breath, and marched into the supply room, if you could call it a room at all. She did not get very far however, because there was something in the way. She took another step forward, trying to adjust her sight to the small, nearly torchless alcove. Her foot landed hard and unforgiving on a slightly bony lump.

"Aargh! Watch where you're going!" called out Sokka's voice as she heard a pair of clumsy feet jump into the air. With her brother out of the way and the small lamp in the middle of the space exposed to her view, she could now see her brother massaging his hand. Ignoring Sokka, she looked beyond him to see none other than the Earth King. A small game board lay on the ground between them. "What're you doing here?" Sokka grumbled. He was staring at her accusingly, as if the answer to this question would mean the difference between forgiveness and petty revenge.

"I was hungry. You of all people should understand," she replied with a wry grin before walking past him and digging into a stone basin full of dried meat. "What are you two hiding out in here for?"

"I'm not sure anymore," Sokka huffed, calmed down enough to sit back down. "We were playing a strategy game, but his royal highness here insists that the Earth Kingdom has different rules. Rules that make absolutely no sense, by the way." The last sentence was obviously addressed not to her but to the Earth King. The man countered with a smile as he pushed his glasses back up his nose, then moved one of the small, round stones a few squares forward on the grid.

She watched the two go at each other for a while as she snacked on the jerky and a deliciously ripe apple she had found. The king was so obviously inventing his own rules as he went that Katara was surprised her brother hadn't tossed up the board in aggravation. Instead, he was determined to beat the Earth King at his own game, following the make-believe rules to a fault. The observation was meant to be humorous, but instead of laughing, the motherly water bender felt a tug at her insides, as if she were missing something, as if something were wrong, as if something were wrong with Sokka.

"I win again!" the former king declared suddenly, positively elated. He clapped his hands with joy as Sokka quietly, though grudgingly, acquiesced and cleared the game board. Katara couldn't believe the man. He had created his own rules, rigging the game so that it was impossible for him to lose, yet when he won, he was overjoyed and comedically proud of himself. She would never understand royalty.

_Royalty. Prince. Zuko._

_Zuko, who had actually tried to bribe her into giving away Aang to the Fire Nation with her own mother's necklace!_

_Zuko, who had kneeled so haggard and defeated before his injured uncle._

_Zuko, who turned toward her ever so slightly, his disfiguring scar masking his expression but not his tone. "That's something we have in common."_

_Zuko, who had betrayed them all, even his own uncle, for wealth and power and war._

Katara hastily shook the thoughts from her mind. Okay. So they all had something wrong with them these days, but her issues would have to wait. She had an inkling she knew what was nagging at Sokka, and she felt she needed to do everything she could to help. It may have been a selfish need, a need to correct whatever she hadn't been able to do for Aang, but it was also a loving need.

As soon as Sokka pushed the king out into the hallway, with promises of more games later in the day, Katara let out a loud sigh. "You really _are_ hiding out in here, aren't you? And what's worse, you're not even eating anything."

"I'm just not hungry. And I'm _not_ hiding from anything!"

Katara raised a single, dark eyebrow. "Why did you just let Aang leave like that?"

The Water Tribe warrior's frown deepened. "It's not like anything I could've said would have changed his mind."

"No, Sokka. I mean why didn't _you_ go with him?"

Her brother was frozen now; she couldn't even tell if he was breathing. Not exactly sure how exactly to continue, she plowed on to the best of her ability. "Even if the Kyoshi warriors aren't there, I'm sure they'll have been keeping in touch with the village. There's bound to be some sort of lead there, and when Aang and Toph find it, we can go-"

"Go, _what_, exactly?" Sokka snapped. "Go bury their cold, de-"

"Don't say it," Katara scolded softly, using the same words Aang had only yesterday and setting her pointer finger against her brother's lips. Sokka hastily pushed it aside and began walking away.

"Please, Katara, just stop."

The water bender was nearly stricken. She had to say something, anything! Anything to make the real Sokka come back to her! She needed at least one person by her side who was acting normal! She couldn't play the responsible one forever. Who would be there to help her when her time came?

"Suki would punch you in the face right now." Sokka stopped. Seeing her chance, Katara seized it. "You're not acting like a warrior at all. You're afraid, so you're hiding yourself away in a storage closet! A warrior is supposed to never give up! I know that wherever the Kyoshi are right now, they're alive. Because they're warriors. So what does that make you?"

Sokka remained motionless for some time before heaving a sigh. He turned his head just enough that Katara could see the childish pout he wore. "Annoying know it all."

Katara smiled. "Stupid jerk."

Her brother plugged his ears, pretending to ignore her as he hummed loudly and turned the corner, a small, smug, nostalgic grin twitching at the corners of his lips.

----------

Toph felt the wind rush against her skin and flap her loose, newly-refurbished Earth Kingdom robes. It was harsh and unforgiving as Appa soared through the sky. The particularly dark sky, if the chilly sting to the air gave any indication.

The blind earth bender frowned. If it was night, and they had surely been flying long enough for it to be, then that made two nights in a row that Twinkle Toes refused to land and rest. That couldn't be good for Appa. Or Twinkle Toes for that matter.

And speaking of Twinkle Toes…

Her frown took on the form of a slightly concerned-slightly agitated pout. The vibrations the boy was sending out to her were not his usual feather weight nor did they carry their usual optimistic twist about them. If Toph had to compare the vibrations she was feeling now to anyone else she had ever met, the closest would have to be those of Iroh's nephew, that Zuko person. That was not a good thing, from what Katara told her.

What she had felt emanating from Zuko had been incredibly unstable, the vibrations inconsistent, tinged with heated anger and hatred one minute, than icy with regret and self-pity the next. A fraying string of mingled and mixed emotions and feelings all yearning to let themselves go but with no direction to head in. There was a particular indecision about them that told her he knew exactly what he needed to do but didn't know who and what he needed to do it for.

This is what Aang's vibrations were telling her about him as well. Toph felt she needed to do something about it, tell him something to assuage his conscience, but she was no good at this sort of thing. Forcing the air bender into dangerous situations to test him, that she could do. But this … _this_ was Katara's area of expertise.

The young girl sighed. Well, she never got anything done by sitting around and thinking about it.

"Twinkle Toes, get over here."

See? That wasn't so hard, was it?

The bald boy looked over at her before getting up and sitting hesitantly beside her. An unpleasant silence followed as Twinkle Toes twiddled his thumbs.

"Are you alright?"

"…Yes."

"You're lying."

Twinkle Toes slumped. "I'm sorry, Toph."

"For what?" the earth bender shot back. She was genuinely curious and really did want to help, but, really, what the hell could Aang possibly want to apologize for?

"You wanted me to choose to help Iroh, but instead I just left him in Ba Sing Se to die." The boy's words were laced with guilt, and his vibrations were mute, heavy, and sullen.

"Now, look here, Twinkle Toes. What you had to do was choose between either the Kyoshi warriors or Iroh. It was a lose-lose situation. It didn't matter which you picked, the other would still end up in trouble. With the Fire Nation so sure of themselves after taking over Ba Sing Se, you're probably going to have to make a lot more decisions like that one soon. It's not even an Avatar thing. It's just life."

She felt Twinkle Toes' nod, but his treacherous vibrations gave him away. He was still upset. Perhaps more so than he had been before she spoke up. Geez. She was just making this whole thing worse, wasn't she?

"It's not so much what I chose as it is why I chose it," the boy finally confessed. "I know Suki and the others aren't going to be there and even if we find something there it probably won't help us find them. I just … I'm afraid. I don't ever want to go back to Ba Sing Se again. Azula, Zuko, the Dai Li … I couldn't do anything against them. I couldn't help Katara. I … I can't do anything to help anyone at all!"

Oh no, Toph grimaced worriedly. Twinkle Toes was crying.

"Hey, Twinkle Toes. Stop it. Twinkle Toes. Twinkle Toes! Hey! **_Aang!_**"

The boy stopped crying. Toph was on her feet, the fact that they were miles up in the air meant nothing now.

"You make one, lousy mistake and suddenly you think you can't help anyone?! What kind of crap it that?! You've helped more people in the time I've traveled with you than most people do in their entire lives! Get a spine, for goodness sake! You're an earth bender now, so act like it! You weren't strong enough? Then get stronger! Find the Kyoshi warriors! Then we can get Iroh out, and he can teach you fire bending! Beat the Fire Lord at his own, stupid game! Quit running away and regretting every single choice you make or you'll never get any stronger!

"Now, let's land. I'm tired, and we both need to be well rested when we get to Kyoshi Island."

Twinkle Toes stared at her, shocked, for quite some time. Then he smiled. Toph smiled too as he turned away from her and reigned Appa down for a landing. His vibrations were not as light or joyful as they used to be, but they were getting there, slowly, steadily, at their own pace. And, for now, that was good enough.


	8. 2 Boys, 2 Dreams, 2 Men

Author's Note: What self-respecting Avatar fanfic would be complete without a dream sequence? So here it is. I hope I treated Zuko's well. I tried to fit it in as a sort of sequel to his first one, but I'm not sure if I pulled it off.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. I own a pretty, blue mechanical pencil which I use to write this Avatar fan fiction. But that's about it.

----------

Aang hadn't had much chance to sleep the last week, ever since that battle beneath Ba Sing Se. When he had still been ill, he had been unconscious much of the time, sure, but not asleep. The pain had kept him from rest, and his anxiety prohibited him from dreams. Even afterward thoughts of failure and inescapable destinies plagued him as he lay, eyes closed in a fake sleep constructed in hopes of bringing about the real thing. But now, with Appa's warm, shaggy fur beneath his head and Toph's earth tent mere feet away, he felt calm and relaxed. Destiny could wait a few hours. It was high time he got some well earned sleep.

The monk awoke in a rather clichéd, fairytale sort of field, green grass surrounding him on every side. A fountain flowing pristine with glistening water stood stoically to his left. Guru Pahtik sat meditating to his right.

It took a moment for Aang to process this.

"Guru Pahtik?" he questioned hesitantly.

"That is me."

"What are you doing here?"

It was a few seconds before the guru replied. "I believe the correct question is 'What are _you_ doing here?' Yes?"

That's right. What _was_ he doing here anyway?

"It sure took you long enough to get here," the old man huffed playfully, opening his eyes for the first time and smiling a wrinkled, old smile.

"Where exactly _is_ here?"

"Nowhere in particular," the guru intoned, exasperating Aang for a moment before he continued. "This is a dream, Aang. I thought it would be easy to find you here, but you have horribly unhealthy sleeping habits. You would do well to fix that."

Aang nodded, still trying to sort things out. "So … you were looking for me?" he questioned weakly, not sure he wanted to talk about anything the guru could wish to bring up.

"We need to have a talk about what happened." _Oh no. Not good._ "You did some very reckless things. You ran off before you mastered the Avatar State, then you nearly died in the Avatar State." Aang's assuaged sense of failure was quickly returning. He had almost ended the sacred line of the Avatar forever. He had almost lost her.

"But none of that is very important is it?"

Aang's train of thought was instantly derailed. "What?! I completely ignored your warnings; I almost died in the Avatar State; I doomed Ba Sing Se! And you say it's not important?!"

"That's what I said."

"But-!"

"Aang," the old guru grinned, "the important part is that you went into the Avatar State." The boy huffed and fell backward to the ground, staring up into the dream-sky with unseeing eyes. Guru Pahtik sighed, looking up right along with him. "The last chakra. It was on the verge of opening, but as soon as you were hit it closed right back up."

The boy still didn't reply. He only frowned at the dream-clouds and the dream-birds in the dream-sky. He didn't want to answer, didn't want to have to admit. What good was the Avatar State if, once he finally gained it, he didn't want to use it for her? What was the point if he wasn't fighting for her?

In contrast to Aang's sullen demeanor, the guru was smiling knowingly. "Love is a very complicated emotion. It is a bond that reaches far beyond the limits of life and death. It is _not_ dependent on earthly attachment."

The Avatar lifted his head, leaning back on his elbows as he turned to face Guru Pahtik. "I'm listening."

----------

Zuko stood at the railing of the ship once again, looking out into the expanses of blue-green ocean, blackened by the darkness of an oncoming night. The rail was quickly becoming his favorite spot. The simple rhythms of the water calmed him more effectively than trying to meditate with all the men below deck shouting hoarsely and gulping down alcohol. This was the short amount of time when Azula was locked away in training with orders for no one to disturb her, and the crew wasn't about to waste it.

The newly redeemed prince grimaced as he felt more than saw a shadow creep up to his back. "Zuko, shouldn't you be asleep?"

The voice was undoubtedly Azula's. Right? Or was it someone else? Did it matter? No, no. It was his sister's; there was no mistaking that malice. But there was an invading fog sifting through his mind, making it hard for him to focus. He was awfully tired….

"Why aren't you asleep? You should be sleeping."

"I can't," he managed, gripping the railing a little tighter. Was it just him or were his feet going numb?

"Why not, Zuko?" The fog settled deeper.

"Nightmares." The response was matter of fact and unforgivably true. Caution was lost to him. Dignity too. It didn't matter what he revealed now. He couldn't focus enough to care. The numbness traveled up past his knees and surrounded his gut. He gripped the rail even tighter. It was not a comfortable sensation, feeling your body disappear right out from under you.

Oh, Agni, he was tired.

The metal railing was the only solid thing he could see or feel now. He gripped it like death as the numbness clenched his neck and the fog in his head obscured his senses. That was when he saw it. A blue blur.

Suddenly, all numbness and confusion was wrenched cruelly from him as a scaly blue tail lifted his feet from the boat and tore him bodily from the railing. A blue dragon. Zuko twisted and tugged and struggled against the cerulean tendril that had coiled around his body, but his exhausted limbs were no match for dragon hide. He watched helplessly as the powerful monster plunged into the ocean's depths with him only seconds behind. He hit the water hard, head spinning as he tried to hold his breath. The dragon glided deeper and deeper, pulling Zuko with it, its voice ringing clearly in his ears despite the rushing water.

"You should be sleeping. Sleep, Zuko. Sleep forever. Forever with Mother."

The Fire Nation prince immediately stopped struggling. As soon as the word had lifted from the dragon's tongue his mother's warm, smiling face had materialized in the deeps below him. She was just as he remembered her. The boy was more than ready now to let the dragon take him down. Every inch brought him closer and closer….

Then, for the second time in so many minutes, he was lifted and jerked forcibly to the side. The cerulean dragon had been head butted right off its course. A large shadow appeared above him. If Zuko had been able to breath, he would have cursed.

The glittering red scales of the second dragon contrasted the crystal blue of the other in a way that was either regal or frightening; Zuko couldn't decide. Not that he was intent on doing so. He was much more interested in the dragon's voice. "Do not listen to her! Rise above! You have not yet been painted black! Do not drown yourself! Your choice is yet to be made!"

_Uncle … Iroh?_

The blue dragon bit the red on the neck before it could say more, and the two entities began battling wildly, yanking Zuko back and forth in their wake. The little amount of air in his lungs was dwindling fast. His mother looked up at him from the depths, but he couldn't get to her. He wouldn't ever. He'd die right here. Drowned…

**NO! **

With a sudden rush of adrenaline, Zuko grabbed the thrashing blue tail that held him tight and let the burning passion run down his arms and out his clenched palms. The blue dragon screeched and let him go, writhing in pain as the spirals of flame shot upward from its tail to its wide, unbelieving eyes. The impossibility of such a flame under water was lost on the prince as he began swimming desperately down toward his mother's image.

Just before he was sure he had made it, a hand reached out from behind him and held his arm fast. He angrily turned around to see who had stopped him, but froze as soon as he realized. There, right behind him, was his mother, standing atop the head of the red dragon. But this was not the beautiful, young, and happy image he had been chasing. She was older and her small smile seemed heart-wrenchingly sad. Zuko almost opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him, shaking her head and letting go of his arm in order to ruffle his hair.

"Wake up, Zuko. My Zuko. Please, wake up."

And so he did, the only remnants left over from the dream being his mother's bittersweet voice in his ears and a question that seemed to come out of nowhere.

_Why was he the only one who needed to hold his breath?_

----------

"Earthly attachment is the shallowest form of love. Unlike truer loves, it is selfish. As the Avatar, you cannot let such desires cloud your judgment."

Aang listened intently but couldn't help feeling at least a little agitated. The reason he had failed was that he had misunderstood a technicality? "Why didn't you tell me all of this before?!"

"You ran off!" Guru Pahtik admonished the frustrated boy.

The young monk grinned sheepishly at the obvious before motioning for the guru to continue. He had messed up once; he didn't want to do it again. "Aang, what holds you back is not your love of her but your love of the world with her in it. Love is not bound by earthly laws like life and death. Even in death, true love still lives on. Do not allow your love to be tainted by mere death. That is when it is twisted into earthly attachment.

"The question you must ask yourself is whether or not you can let go of your mortal passion. You must accept that in your upcoming battles, she may die! _You_ may die! You _must_ accept that fact if you wish to control the Avatar State."

By the time the guru finished, Aang had about a million questions he wanted to ask, but the gravity of what Guru Pahtik had told him weighed him down into silence. The boy hastily fell into a meditative position and closed his eyes to the dream-world.

Could he do it? Could he accept Katara's death if it really did happen? Could he keep fighting if she was gone? Yes. He could do it. He could do it for her, even if she was dead. He would do anything for her, whether she was there or not. It was the same for the others.

Toph. He wouldn't even be here if it weren't for her. He'd probably still be sulking, anxious, unable to get even the tiniest amount of rest. He was only here because of her. He could go on without her too. He would go on _for_ her.

Even Sokka. He could fight, even for Sokka. Especially for Sokka.

He could fight on even if they left him _because_ he loved them. There was no question in his mind that he could do it and would do it.

And something inside of him clicked.

He opened his eyes to see the guru's grinning face about an inch from his nose.

"Onions and banana juice?"

Aang smiled. "Yes, please."


End file.
